New Product Awards Blog

Navantis Inc. of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, won the Gold Stevie® Award for Best New Business Intelligence Solution in the new product awards categories of the 2013 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, the world's top honors for business development, sales, contact center, and customer service professionals. The competition also features categories that recognize new products and services used by these professionals. (Entries to the 2014 edition are now being accepted - learn more here.)

Here we look at how Navantis has partnered with NBC News to advance online learning technologies.

It’s 3:00AM in the morning. A college student has a paper due at 9:00AM. In a remote farming community, a grade ten student is studying for an exam and struggling to download a required video assignment. Long after putting her own children to bed, a public school teacher is completing her lesson plan. All of these scenarios are real and all of these people expect the NBC Learn website to be available at any time of the day or night to help them meet their professional and classroom commitments.

NBC Learn is the educational arm of NBC News and is dedicated to making historic stories, images, and primary source documents available on-demand to teachers, students, and parents by providing access to more than 14,000 stories from the NBC News archives—one of the largest news archives in the world, with records dating back to the 1920s.

A State-of-the-art Call Center

NBC Learn’s hundreds of thousands of clients—teachers, students, and parents—rely on being able to access the website from a PC, MAC, or iPad, at school or at home, 24/7. They expect a site that is always available and with technical support that is always on.

Providing high-quality technical support around the clock and being able to solve every kind of issue facing every type of user was a challenge. Realizing they couldn’t do it alone, NBC Learn turned to the expert technical Call Center team at Navantis for help.

Under the leadership of Vice President Client Support Karl Weiss, Navantis operates a state-of-the-art call center incorporating voice calls, email, chat, collaboration, and remote technical assist. Navantis acts transparently so that NBC Learn clients never realize they are dealing with an outsourced team. Every call, email, and instant message is handled with care and monitored under strict Service Level Agreements.

Deep Business Insight

Navantis manages all of the case tracking and reporting, and provides deep business insight back to NBC Learn for continuous improvement.

An advanced offering that Navantis includes is usage tracking, which helps to identify schools with reduced participation. Once identified, the Navantis reach- out program encourages online training through webinars, resulting in better understanding, awareness, and increased usage of the NBC Learn offerings while also ensuring that 21st century education continues to help teachers and students improve skills and knowledge.

Building a Brighter Future

“Nobody else in our industry is able to approach the level of content and support provided by NBC Learn, making us the most competitive and compelling solution in the market today,” commented Michael Levin, Director of Sales and Technical Operations at NBC Learn. “Navantis has completed our service offering by providing a seamless experience for our community and becoming a trusted member of our team. They treat our clients with patience and respect, ensuring that no problem goes unsolved.”

Because of the work that the Navantis team continues to do, NBC Learn is able to fully meet the needs of their clients. Thousands of teachers, students, and parents are now able to streamline videos; access history on-demand; enhance lesson plans; and continue to build a brighter future with full support.

"We are delighted to be recognized for excellence in customer service and support," commented Karl Weiss on receiving the Gold Stevie Award. "The partnership with NBC Learn has enabled both of our organizations to innovate, delivering unparalleled levels of service to students, teachers and families across the country and helping to set a standard for 21st century learning."

About Karl Weiss:

Karl Weiss is a seasoned Customer Care and Services professional with over thirty years of experience in Information Services operations. Karl builds customer care environments that provide innovation aimed at driving sales, marketing, business intelligence, development, and customer service. He has earned an enviable reputation for customer service excellence and for providing complex implementation and support of large-scale network deployments for multinational clients such as Lafarge, Royal Bank, and Magna. Karl’s core operational principles are client satisfaction and delivery excellence during all phases of deployment and support. His expertise spans quality assurance, process re-engineering, software development, technical support, and design, all of which provide tremendous value to Navantis.

About Navantis:

Navantis combines strategy, design, and technology to help their clients realize new opportunities, solve business challenges, and focus on excellence in customer service and delivery. Founded in 1998, Navantis was Microsoft's Canadian Partner of the year in 2012, and is the partner channel with the most industry awards including recognition from Microsoft, CDN Magazine, and the Branham Group.

MicroStrategy Express is the big winner in the 2013 People's Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite New Products, a feature of The American Business Awards, the U.S.A.’s top business awards program, which are now in their 11th year.

The nationwide public vote was conducted this summer, with the highest number of votes deciding the winners in 34 product categories. More than 20,000 votes were cast.

MicroStrategy Express was the top vote-getter in three categories. NetScout Systems’ nGenius 3900 series packet flow switch received the most votes in two categories.

The crystal People’s Choice Stevie Awards will be presented to winners at The American Business Awards’ new product and tech awards banquet on Monday, September 16 at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco. Tickets for the event are now on sale. There the winners of peer-adjudicated Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Awards will also be announced and presented their awards. More than 250 nominees and their guests are expected to attend.

All new products and services to be honored in the new product awards categories of this year’s American Business Awards were eligible to be included in voting for the people’s choice awards.

The winners of the 2013 People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products are:

Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. A fifth program, the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, will debut later this year. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.StevieAwards.com and follow the Stevie Awards on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

Sponsors and partners of The 2013 American Business Awards include the Business TalkRadio Network, Callidus Software, Citrix Online, Dynamic Research Corporation, Experian Consumer Services, John Hancock Funds, LifeLock, PetRays, and SoftPro.

This is a nationwide vote in which the general public will get to choose one favorite product in more than 30 categories. Among the categories are Favorite Cloud App/Service, Favorite Consumer Product, Favorite Telecommunications Service, and Favorite Hardware.

All new products and services that were nominated in the new product awards categories of The 2013 American Business Awards are automatically included in people’s choice voting. Organizations will have the opportunity to win two awards: a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Stevie Award, as determined by professionals in the ABAs’ peer-review judging, and a crystal People's Choice Stevie Award, as determined by the public vote.

Winners of the crystal People's Choice Stevie Awards will be announced at The American Business Awards' new product and tech awards banquet at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco on September 16.

Past winners of the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products include Apple, Boost Mobile, Dow Jones, and Samsung.

Edwards Group Limited in Crawley, United Kingdom won the Gold Stevie® Award for Best New Industrial Product or Service in the new product awards categories of last year’s International Business Awards , the world's top business honors. (This year's IBA winners will be announced on August 14.) Here we look at how this global technology company affects all of us in one way or another.

Edwards Group Limited (NASDAQ: EVAC), the UK-based manufacturer of sophisticated vacuum products and abatement systems and a provider of related value-added services, beat off stiff competition from across the globe when its class-leading CXS dry vacuum pump was named a Best New Product in The 2012 International Business Awards.

On winning last year’s award, Sia Abbaszadeh, Edwards’ Chief Technology and Marketing Officer, commented: “2012 was truly a golden year for Edwards. After being honored with a momentous seventh Queen’s Award earlier in the year for our nEXT turbomolecular pump, and then successfully listing on the NASDAQ market, we were delighted to build on our success with a Gold Stevie® Award.”

“To have received this accolade for the CXS, so soon after its launch, was testament to the hard work and expertise of all those at Edwards who were involved in its conception. This award has set the CXS’ credentials beyond refute and places Edwards at the forefront of international innovation.”

Standing Out from the Competition Edwards CXS is the latest generation dry vacuum pump for harsh chemical and pharmaceutical processing applications, and builds on Edwards’ strong record of innovation and application expertise. Since its introduction in 2011, it has set new industry standards for reliability, performance, and control.

Two elements of the cutting-edge CXS set it apart from competitor pumps. The novel tapered screw technology facilitates excellent liquid and solids handling leading to high operational reliability while providing deep vacuum down to 10-3 mbar. The range of built-in control and safety features makes the CXS easier and cheaper to install when compared to some pumps currently available on the market.

Edwards believes this is the first “plug and pump” system. The development of the CXS has proved to be a crucial tipping point for vacuum, taking the technology from “specialist equipment” to “utility.”

About Sia Abbaszadeh Sia Abbaszadeh has served as Edwards’ Chief Technology & Marketing Officer since June 2010. Sia joined Edwards in November 1989 to lead new product development programs in semiconductor vacuum pumping. He has subsequently built a broad base of New Product Introduction capability for all the product and application sectors within Edwards. His responsibilities have included delivery of strategic growth plans by leading new product and technology development for the Semiconductor, Flat Panel Displays, and Emerging Technologies sectors. Recent responsibilities have included leading the Edwards’ Solar business growth program and doubling Edwards’ footprint within the sector.

Sia holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Non-Destructive Testing from Brunel University in London and a Masters of Science degree in Project Management from Brighton University.

About Edwards Edwards is a leading developer and manufacturer of sophisticated vacuum products, abatement systems, and related value-added services. These are integral to manufacturing processes for semiconductors, flat panel displays, LEDs and solar cells; are used within an increasingly diverse range of industrial processes including power, glass and other coating applications, steel and other metallurgy, pharmaceutical, and chemical; and for both scientific instruments and a wide range of R&D applications.

Edwards has over 3,200 full-time employees and 500 temporary workers operating in approximately 30 countries worldwide engaged in the design, manufacture, and support of high technology vacuum and exhaust management equipment.

Edwards’ American Depositary Shares trade on The NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol EVAC. Further information about Edwards can be found at www.edwardsvacuum.com.

This is a nationwide vote in which the general public will get to choose one favorite product in more than 30 categories. Among the categories are Favorite Cloud App/Service, Favorite Consumer Product, Favorite Telecommunications Service, and Favorite Hardware.

All new products and services that were nominated in the new product awards categories of The 2013 American Business Awards are automatically included in people’s choice voting. Organizations will have the opportunity to win two awards: a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Stevie Award, as determined by professionals in the ABAs’ peer-review judging, and a crystal People's Choice Stevie Award, as determined by the public vote.

Winners of the crystal People's Choice Stevie Awards will be announced at The American Business Awards' new product and tech awards banquet at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco on September 16.

Past winners of the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products include Apple, Boost Mobile, Dow Jones, and Samsung.

This is a nationwide vote in which the general public will get to choose one favorite product in more than 30 categories including:

Favorite Cloud App/Service

Favorite Consumer Product

Favorite Hardware

Favorite Telecommunications Service

All new products and services that were nominated in the new product awards categories of The 2013 American Business Awards are automatically included in people’s choice voting. Organizations will have the opportunity to win two awards: a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Stevie Award, as determined by professionals in the ABAs’ peer-review judging, and a crystal People's Choice Stevie Award, as determined by the public vote.

Winners of the crystal People's Choice Stevie Awards will be announced at The American Business Awards' new product and tech awards banquet at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco on September 16.

Past winners of the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products include Apple, Boost Mobile, Dow Jones, and Samsung.

This is a nationwide vote in which the general public will get to choose one favorite product in 30 categories. Among the categories are Favorite New Smartphone, Favorite New Tablet, Favorite Consumer Product, and Favorite Media or Entertainment Product.

All new products and services that were nominated in the new product awards categories of The 2012 American Business Awards are automatically included in people’s choice voting. Organizations will have the opportunity to win two awards: a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Stevie Award, as determined by professionals in the ABAs’ peer-review judging, and a crystal People's Choice Stevie Award, as determined by the public vote.

Winners of the crystal People's Choice Stevie Awards will be announced at The American Business Awards' new product and tech awards banquet at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco on September 17.

This is a nationwide vote in which the general public will get to choose one favorite product in 30 categories including Favorite New Smartphone, Favorite New Tablet, Favorite Consumer Product, and Favorite Media or Entertainment Product.

All new products and services that were nominated in the new product awards categories of The 2012 American Business Awards are automatically included in people’s choice voting. Organizations will have the opportunity to win two awards: a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Stevie Award, as determined by professionals in the ABAs’ peer-review judging, and a crystal People's Choice Stevie Award, as determined by the public vote.

Winners of the crystal People's Choice Stevie Awards will be announced at The American Business Awards' new product and tech awards banquet at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco on September 17.

Past winners of the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products include Apple, Boost Mobile, Dow Jones, and Samsung.

This is a nationwide vote in which the general public will get to choose one favorite product in 30 categories including:

Favorite New Smartphone

Favorite New Tablet

Favorite Consumer Product

Favorite Media or Entertainment Product

All new products and services that are nominated in the new product awards categories of The 2012 American Business Awards are automatically included in the public voting for the People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products. Organizations will have the opportunity to win two awards: a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Stevie Award, as determined by professionals in the ABAs’ peer-review judging, and a crystal People's Choice Stevie Award, as determined by the public vote.

Winners of the crystal People's Choice Stevie Awards will be announced at the American Business Awards' new product and tech awards banquet at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco on September 17.

Results of Public Poll to Be Announced on September 17 in San Francisco

Fairfax, VA – July 12, 2012 – Voting is now open for the fourth annual edition of the People’s Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite New Products, a feature of The American Business Awards. Anyone may vote for their favorite new products and services in any of 30 categories at PeoplesChoice.StevieAwards.com.

Among the categories are Favorite New Smartphone, Favorite New Tablet, Favorite Consumer Product, and Favorite Media or Entertainment Product. Voting will close on August 29.

All new products and services that were nominated in the new product awards categories of The 2012 American Business Awards are automatically included in people’s choice voting. Organizations will have the opportunity to win two awards: a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Stevie Award, as determined by professionals in the ABAs’ peer-review judging, and a crystal People's Choice Stevie Award, as determined by the public vote.

Winners of the crystal People's Choice Stevie Awards will be announced at The American Business Awards' new product and tech awards banquet at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco on September 17.

Past winners of the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products include Apple, Boost Mobile, Dow Jones, and Samsung.

The American Business Awards are the U.S.A.’s top business awards program, honoring achievement in every facet of the American workplace. For information about the ABAs visit www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

About the Stevie® Awards Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.StevieAwards.com, and follow the Stevie Awards on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

Sponsors and partners of The 2012 American Business Awards include American Support, Business TalkRadio Network, CallidusCloud, Citrix Online, Dynamic Research Corporation, iolo technologies, John Hancock Funds, LifeLock, PetRays, Primus Telecommunications Group, SoftPro, and VerticalResponse.